This is the first in an occasional series where we’ll be looking at some of the world’s most interesting abandoned places. In 1908, diamonds were discovered in the Namib Desert, and one of the towns that sprang up to provide…

Mount Taranaki/Egmont is another (apparently) active stratovolcano in New Zealand, but this one hasn’t done anything at all since the early 1800s when it reportedly produced “a moderate ash eruption”.1 Most interestingly from our perspective is that we can clearly…

The Oil Rocks, 50km off the coast of Azerbaijan, is effectively a small city that has been constructed from interconnected oil platforms and residential areas, all sitting atop rocks, piles of sand and landfill. Back in 1949, the Oil Rocks…

This is supposedly the Hokkaidō Centennial Memorial Tower in Nopporo Forest Park, Hokkaidō, Japan. The official site claims it’s 100m tall, and was completed in 1970 to honour the 100th anniversary of Hokkaidō’s official colonisation1. Of course dear geeky-reader, you…

Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff, Wales, is named after everyone’s favourite Children’s author Roald Dahl who was born here in the Capital, and the word “plass”, meaning “plaza”, is a nod to his parent’s Norwegian origins. If you’re a fan…

Driving across the frozen Amur River between Russian and China we can see a couple of trucks – driven by the fearless and legendary Ice Road Truckers! Although it seems ludicrous, building “Ice Roads” over lakes, rivers or seas, is…